The Record: Torres' credibility

JOEY TORRES hit the ground running in his third term as Paterson mayor. In office for roughly one month, Torres has already pushed for new and creative ways of fighting the city's street crime — including an innovative sharing initiative that includes Newark and Jersey City. He also has come forward with an aggressive bonding plan for fixing the city's streets and last week unveiled a proposal to begin to address the long-neglected problem of Paterson's more than 1,000 vacant properties.

Late last week, Torres also called for the city to begin recouping questionable or perhaps improper payments that were made in the past to city employees. Topping that list of payments was the $17,400 paid to Torres' predecessor, Mayor Jeffery Jones, which he had accepted for unused sick and vacation time. Earlier this year, Jones admitted the payment was "improper" and said he would repay the money, but he has not yet done so.

Again, Torres' instincts are right, but on this issue he lacks credibility. As was well-debated in the run-up to the recent mayoral election, Torres has a questionable payment problem of his own, stemming from the $74,000 he received upon leaving office in 2010 for unused vacation time. That money has been described by the state as "grossly inappropriate and potentially unlawful." Torres has said he would refund the money only if the Passaic County Prosecutor's Office or the state Department of Community Affairs determined the payment was illegal and should be returned.

There is no reason to wait. Torres should take the high road and give back his own questionable payment before he goes after Jones or attempts to deal with questionable payments involving two other city employees, Betty Taylor, assistant personnel director, and John DeCando, chief animal control officer.

There is no difference in what Jones did and what Torres did. Both accepted money neither had any business taking as mayor. That job requires a 24/7 commitment and is not covered by any union contract. Vacation pay for mayors should not be an option. Indeed, taken together, Jones' pay and Torres' pay — more than $91,000 — could be put back into the general budget and be used to hire more police that the city desperately needs.

Torres has said he wants to accomplish a lot in his third term. During the campaign for mayor he spoke of having learned valuable lessons regarding municipal finances in his time as the business administrator in Jackson. Torres' ability to get things done going forward, however, is going to suffer as long as his credibility is in question, as it most certainly is as it relates to this $74,000 payment.